World’s First TD-LTE Service Launched by Mobily

TD-LTE coverage will exceed 32 cities and towns, representing 85 percent of the populated areas in Saudi Arabia, with a population that totals 24,735,000. Mobily is using TD-LTE because frequency pairs (FDD-LTE) in the 2.6GHz bands were not available. But Bayanat, their WiMAX subsidiary, had spectrum available in the 2.5GHz band, so Mobily will use that for their TD-LTE service.

Mobily’s TD-LTE coverage includes the Saudi Arabian cities of Najran, Jazan, Al Kharj, Ras Tanoura, Algurayat and Aldudamy, in the first phase. Launches are planned in the next two weeks in Hail, Al Baha, Al Mujamaaa and Wadi Al Dawasir. Next month will see a third batch of cities with the capital Riyadh, along with Jeddah and Damamm.

The TDD version of LTE is expected to gain traction in India, China and with US operators Clearwire and Sprint. The Saudi Arabian launch could give operators a helpful case study. To date all global launches of LTE have used the FDD version of the technology.